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How to Make Guacamole

Guacamole is one healthy side dish that is hard to find in good form at a local grocery store. Believe it or not, some brands of prepackaged guacamole don't even contain avocados.

It takes about 3 minutes to whip up a super healthy and tasty side of guacamole. All you need are ripe avocados, a red onion, half a lemon, and sea salt.

Here's how we do it...

Start by cutting a ripe avocado in half, taking the seed out, then cutting through the creamy flesh vertically and horizontally to create even chunks, just like this:

Use a spoon to scoop out avocado chunks and deposit them into a bowl.

Next, add some finely chopped red onion - we usually a good couple of tablespoons per avocado.

Drizzle fresh lemon juice - enough to just touch all avocado chunks - and add a pinch of sea salt (about a quarter teaspoon per avocado works well for us).

Now use a fork to mash things up until you reach your desired consistency. We like our guacamole chunky, so just a few gentle folds are all we need to make this:

The lemon juice adds freshness to each mouthful, while the red onion bits impart sweetness and a bit of welcome texture. And of course, a bit of sea salt makes everything more flavorful.

As with most dishes, you can add any number of ingredients to guacamole to make it a new experience each time. Chives or green onions combine nicely with creamy avocado, as do cilantro and parsley.

Sometimes, we don't mash with a fork at all, leave everything in chunks, and add fresh, ripe mango and tomato chunks to the mix for a filling salsa-like guacamole.

Of course, it's best to enjoy guacamole with fresh vegetables like carrots, celery, and cucumber, but every once in a while, as a special treat, we have ours with the healthiest corn chips we can find at our local grocery store. Not a bad "cheat" in my book - I hope you agree.

If you're worried about the fat content of avocados, please know that all of the fatty acids in avocados are good for your health, and most importantly, are easily digested by and assimilated into your body.

Avocados are rich in vitamin E, vitamin C, and magnesium. They're also an excellent source of lutein and carotenoids, nutrients that are essential to maintaining healthy vision.

One final note for now: because avocados are low in sugar, they're an excellent food choice for type 1 or type 2 diabetics.

If you have any favorite guacamole-making ideas that you'd like to share with our community, please use the comments section below. Thank you.

Update on April 11, 2011

These days, I've been mincing purple onion a lot finer than it's shown above. I've also been adding finely minced garlic, about one small clove for every avocado.

A sample of my latest batch with these modifications, sans cilantro:

Our boys wolf this down with baked corn or rice chips - a great way to nourish the body with plenty of healthy fatty acids.

We discovered a recipe a couple years ago that we really like. It's not called "guacamole" but it is an avocado salad. Basically, it is made with corn, quartered grape tomatoes, red onion bits, avocado chunks (all the salad ingredient chunks are about the size of the corn)--seasoned with about a teaspoon of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt. Yummy!

Thanks so much for the illustrated recipes. They always make me want to go and make whatever-it-is right now!

I made the guacamole last week and it was delicious! My husband was wary at first, thinking avocado tastes like soap. He and the chips kept diving into the bowl, all the while saying "Yum, this is really good, wow!" The 4 year-old in the family took a couple of bites, not as thrilled as mom and dad, but we'll keep encouraging him.

Thank you Dr. Kim for your super website and all the terrific information and recipes. Next on my list is the Hummus as well as several other recipes!

Did you know you can keep your guacamole from turning black and save it for days if you simply sit one of the pits from your avacado in the centre of your Guacamole before you store it in the fridge. i have had it last, green and fresh for up to a week.

I like to add chopped sweet peppers along with tomato, garlic crushed, a bit of cilantro, and finally some salt and about a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin. The cumin is a really amazing addition to this. I know you will love it too. I use 3 medium avocados.
When refrigerating, I take a piece of plastic wrap and press it over the top of the guacamole to block out all the air, then fold the rest of it in on top and put the lid on the bowl and refrigerate for a couple hours before serving.
You can also serve over lettuce bed for a complete salad and dressing.
Yum!!!!

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The contents of this website are the opinions of Dr. Ben Kim unless otherwise noted. The information on this website is not intended as personalized medical advice and is not intended to replace the relationship that you have with your primary care provider. Any decisions you make with regard to your daily choices and medical treatments should be made with the help of a qualified health care provider.